Zhang Xuezhi Pop-Up Art Exhibition: The Call of Antiquity

Impression Rock Art Global Tour

For two days only, the Blackhawk Museum hosts a pop-up exhibition of work by Zhang Xuezhi, part of his Impression Rock Art Global Tour. The artist will be present both days.

Zhang Xuezhi is the founder of Chinese Impression Rock Art, a style that carries the symbols, totems, and natural imagery of ancient rock carvings into contemporary painting through ink, color, and mixed media. His work draws on the prehistoric rock art of China’s Helan Mountains, where figures were carved into stone walls thousands of years ago.

The exhibition takes its name from The Call of Antiquity, a defining work in red, yellow, and black. A bonfire rises into the night as ancestral figures move in silhouette around the flames. Bold, spare lines and symbolic forms bring the primal energy of prehistoric rock art into the expressive language of contemporary ink painting.

Before arriving in the Bay Area, the tour traveled through Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with exhibitions at the Grand Palais in Paris and the Tokyo Art Museum.

The exhibition is included with the purchase of Museum admission.

While you are here, visit Into China, the Museum’s permanent gallery of 5,000 years of Chinese history, artifacts, and culture.